Violence Breaks Out On SXSW's Final Day

Violence breaks out in Austin toward the end of the 9-day festival.

This year's SXSW seemed to be going off without a hitch, as headlines mainly focused on the impressive array of lit parties and super-dope showcases. Until last night at around 1:30am, that is, as right as many of the night's major events were beginning to wind down, gunshots were fired in a densely crowded area, around E. Sixth Street and Trinity Street in downtown Austin.

A bystander managed to catch footage of the moments leading up to the gunshots, as well as the crowd's dispersal afterwards, as police rushed the scene. The entire street seemed to be full of rowdy partiers, and before the shots are heard, there are a few instances when it seems like a fight might break out.

Many people begin to flee to a nearby venue at around the 1:30 mark, perhaps as they've seen someone pull out a gun. Two gunshots, and many ensuing screams, can be heard at the 1:38 mark, from whence the entire street is cleared except for police.

There's no footage of police taking down the suspect, but it seems they were able to do so relatively quickly. According to Austin's KXAN news station, police confirmed they were able to apprehend a suspect a short time after the gunshots were fired and that they also recovered the gun in question. The suspect apparently fired the gun into the air, and no one was hurt.

The uploader of the above video notes that one can see a man who might have a handgun in his jacket pocket in the first few seconds of the clip.

Today, on the festival's final day, there was another violent scene, albeit not quite as severe. A fight broke out, involving many members of the crowd, during a Lil Uzi Vert performance. Security seems to begin to take control of the violent outbreak toward the end of the below video, recorded by DJ Folk.

Luckily, as most of the attendees are on now on their way out of Austin, it seems that the festival went down without any severe injuries.